Yep as others have said....... i've also got a '98 Petrol 100 series, i bought it 6 yrs ago of the original owner, it had around 150,000 klms on it at the time, it's now got about 270,000klms on it, and still going strong. I've never owned a Diesel 4wd, though i have driven plenty of them (work in the mining industry), in my opinion, the auto /petrols are better all round, they are tops for low range 4wd work, due to instant throttle response, no stalling, clutch riding etc, just roll on through with a couple of right pedal stabs when u need it............. and as for the high range travelling, you have a big gutsy engine under the hood, that will sit on 100kph all day, and if sitting behind a slow mover out on the highway, the big petrols have plenty of acceleration even when already doing ~90kph or such....... Fuel consumption figures between the Petrol and Diesels are close enough it's not worth worrying about, service costs on the petrols are cheaper.... have u ever wondered why all the diesels are turbo'd? It's to try and keep up with the Petrol models....
..... oh and don't forget, if you love BIG POWER, you can get bolt on Superchargers for the 4.5ltrs.......... hehehe, but you'd have to upgrade the drawbar on your CT, cos i reckon a blown 4.5 ltr cruiser would stretch most drawbars.
Go on buy it!!